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Thursday, December 17, 2015

Couple Arrested in Illegal Slaughterhouse Case

As a result of a joint
investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, the Miami-Dade Police
Department, undercover investigators from the Animal Recovery Mission (ARM)
group and officers from the Florida Wildlife Commission, 45 year old Angel
Ricardo Vargas and 41 year old Mayelin Rodriguez were arrested and charged with
felonies relating to operation of an illegal slaughterhouse at their residence
at 19400 SW 136th Street, Miami-Dade County.

During an undercover investigation commencing on May 1, 2015
and ending today, undercover operatives visited the site on four (4) different
occasions, often filming the acts of animal cruelty which entailed the repeated
stabbing, hooking, dragging and boiling alive of animals intended to be sold to
the purchasers who visited the residence.These animal slaughter activities were occurring in a residential area
of Miami-Dade County and were not permitted to occur by existing zoning and
health laws.

Angel Ricardo Vargas has immediately been charged with:

4 countsCruelty to Animals3rdDegree Felony

1 countConspiracy to Commit Cruelty to Animals3rdDegree Felony

Mayelin Rodriguez has immediately been charged with:

1 countCruelty to Animals3rdDegree Felony

1 countConspiracy to Commit Cruelty to Animals3rdDegree Felony

The on-site investigation has led to a variety of additional
findings which may include the directing of potentially unhealthy meat into the
food chain.The discovery of industrial
ovens at the site (photos attached in following email messages) and the filthy
conditions have raised serious concerns which will need further
investigation.

“Anyone involved in the food industry knows that there are
easily performed, painless ways to slaughter livestock for food. At these
illegal slaughterhouses, it seem to be too much trouble to render the animals
senseless”, commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.“Instead of following Florida’s Laws, Angel
Ricardo Vargas, and his wife, Mayelin Rodriguez turned a part of their home
into an animal house of horrors.I
applaud the partnership which allows my prosecutors, the Miami-Dade Police
Department and the Animal Recovery Mission to effectively shut down such
ghastly operations.Now we need to know
if the meat from this site has been entering our local food chain.That state and federal investigation is now
ongoing.”